Despite Colgate's efforts to keep the game close in the second half, the Syracuse Orange (8-1, 0-0) took down the Raiders (3-6, 0-0) on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome by a score of 72-58.
A major key coming into the contest was three-point shooting. 'Cuse had struggled in that department so far this season, shooting just over 27% behind the arc. However, Syracuse showed promise in that area against Colgate early when guard Frank Howard buried a triple on their first possession of the game. Tyus battle was good for three three-pointers in the first half as well.
One of the major reasons for success this afternoon however came from scoring in the paint. The Orange scored 28 of their 72 points inside the lane (39 percent).
The big three for Syracuse against Colgate were Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett, and Frank Howard, who all played every minute of the game. They were a big reason for the two-point success, with the three scoring all but ten of the teams points.
With most of the scoring being done from two-point land, 'Cuse was able to draw a good deal of fouls and took full advantage of it from the free-throw line. Colgate had 19 fouls in the game, compared to Syracuse's five, and the Raiders gave the Orange 22 free shots from the line, which it converted 15. This proved to be costly for the Raiders as they were only able to reach the charity stripe four times in the entire game and only one of those coming in the second half.
Although Colgate lacked points from the line, they were able to make up for some of that by draining threes. The Raiders knocked down 14 for the game, with freshman Jack Ferguson leading the way with 18 of his team-leading 20 points coming from threes.
The game seemed to be getting out of reach when 'Cuse maintained a double-digit point lead for most of the second half after seeing their lead get cut to six early in the second. But the Raiders made it interesting when they were able to cut the lead to seven with just under six minutes left in the game. Despite that, Syracuse pushed forward following that moment, going on an 8-0 run and ended the game on an 11-4 run to claim the win over Colgate.
Syracuse moves past the Raiders and looks ahead to next Saturday when they will take on their old Big East rival in Georgetown. The Orange will play the undefeated and Patrick Ewing coached Hoyas (7-0, 0-0) at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.